Conditions Deteriorate in Afghanistan

As the U.S. military prepared to withdraw troops from Iraq, it
planned to increase the number in Afghanistan. Allied deaths in
Afghanistan reached 267 in 2008, the highest number since the war
began in 2003. U.S. president-elect Barack Obama said defeating the
Taliban would be a top priority of his administration. The Pentagon,
seeming to share Obama's sense of urgency, said it would comply with a
request by Gen. David McKiernan, the top commander in Afghanistan, and
send an additional 20,000 troops to Afghanistan in 2009.